Chapter 24

Alex

Paul Emery was as good as his word. Within ninety minutes of Derek’s call ending, the fax hummed into life and pages began to drop into the hopper. Derek requested Merlin to help him make sense of it all. Rachel was still going over the character profile and refining it into a comprehensive study, based on what she knew of the man from all the third hand information. Alex recruited Nick to help with the investigation into the places where Reuben Meyer had once lived.

“Derek was right. There’s a report of a house fire in Bakersfield within the last week,” she announced.

“How d’you know it was his?” Nick frowned.

“Good question,” Alex agreed. “According to this report, it’s considered arson rather than accidental but the investigators can’t find any trace of fuel or accelerants. They don’t think it was faulty wiring. In fact, the nearest they can describe is lightning. The fire was localized and didn’t spread to the properties on either side .. despite a stiff breeze on the day it happened.”

“Sounds promising,” Nick commented.

“The reporter goes on to say that the day the fire started, there was no lightning. Investigations are ongoing at this time.” She twisted round to face him. “How’re you doing?”

“You’ve given me a great puzzle to solve,” he replied. “River Sands, Nevada, doesn’t exist on any maps.”

“Try historical maps,” Alex suggested. “We know Reuben was there during the early Forties.”

Nick typed quickly and pulled up a map dating from the late Thirties. “Bingo … River Sands. Small. Isolated. A true one horse town, an’ that was back then. I’m not surprised he an’ Peregrine hightailed it back to the city.”

“Get the coordinates an’ I’ll crosscheck to see if anything strange has happened there.”

Nick sent them across to her workstation then began looking into the city of San Francisco. The house on Nob Hill where Reuben had died was the house which Nick now owned. For once, Nick was glad he didn’t actually live there. What Merlin must be thinking, and feeling, about Reuben having lived at Paradise Drive, he couldn’t begin to guess. It wouldn’t surprise him if she decided to have the place torn down and something new and unsullied built there. Then it occurred to him that both properties might well be on Reuben’s hit list. The decision might not be hers to make.

Thank God he never lived here, Nick reflected.

Alex whistled softly. “Wow … ”

“What’d you find?” Nick asked, glad of the distraction.

“A reason why you’ll never find River Sands on any map,” she replied and transferred the image on her monitor to the big screen. “In thirty eight, it was hardly a big, thriving community. The population was .. less than fifty and, according to the census, it was mostly late middle aged and elderly, and, thus, falling. It’s easy enough to see why. It’s miles from anywhere, even a minor road. But then, sometime after the start of the war, London ordered all the Enforcers .. at least in North and Central America, to go to River Sands. It might possibly have been all of them. Anyway,” Alex continued, “once the war was over in forty five, River Sands became a ghost town. No one lived there anymore but the buildings still stood – they’re on these aerial recon photos for the Geological Survey. This,” she said, leaning back, “is the latest photo, from a government satellite … ”

Nick sat up slightly, frowning, then got up and walked to the screen. “It looks like a giant bomb crater.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Alex agreed. “This was four days ago. The experts are trying to say it was a natural occurrence – subsidence of the whole area.”

“Trying?” he queried.

“There’s no evidence to back it up. The whole town just .. disappeared. Blasted out of existence.”

“With a force great enough to leave a crater like that,” Nick added in a somber voice. “I guess Reuben’s had a power refill while he was downstairs.”

Alex paused then, warily, glanced at him. “Aren’t you scared, even just a little?”

Nick continued to study the picture on the screen then, after a moment, turned away. “No, I’m not. I can’t explain it, Alex. It’s a weird feeling. I feel ready.”

She nodded, not willing to argue it out or try to change his mind. That, she knew, was an exercise in futility. “The tactics you’ve been working on, are they going to be enough to cope with someone who can do that?”

“Maybe.” Nick smiled wryly. “You ever thought about what Peri is capable of doing? She might be able to do that as well. The difference between her an’ Reuben Meyer is that she hasn’t lost her self control.”

Alex couldn’t respond to that. It was a rather chilling idea. “Well, that’s Bakersfield and River Sands. Anything in the city?”

“No,” he said, returning to his workstation. “Nothing in Tiburon either.”

“Maybe there’s a reason for that,” Rachel said. “Bakersfield was the location of the family home. River Sands .. by any other name, was an internment camp. Reuben has bad memories associated with both places. Paradise Drive ..? Well, maybe he has good memories an’ won’t touch it.”

“My place on Nob Hill is under a distinct threat then,” Nick commented dryly. “He died there.”

“Sure,” Rachel agreed. “However, that was .. the last hour, maybe a lot less, of his life. It all went sour for him very quickly, and he lost it enough to fall into evil.”

“An’ you know this for a fact because ..?” Nick asked.

“Because, while he drifted close to the line several times, maybe even a lot of times, he was always saved by his friendship with Peregrine. The house on Nob Hill was Peregrine’s home. I bet Reuben was round there most days, leaning on his friend for support. For years, that house had happy associations. It was only on the last day, and in the last few minutes of that day, that Reuben has unhappy memories. Of course,” she added, “that, in itself, may be enough for him to want to destroy it.”

“So, you think Reuben’s fall happened quickly,” Alex remarked. “He didn’t plan to kill.”

Rachel didn’t answer that for a moment. Instead, she paced slowly, her index fingers held to her lips.

“I’m not sure that he didn’t think about it. Maybe even plan it in great detail. But there’s a world of difference between planning an’ doing,” she eventually replied. “To give you an example – I often plan in very specific detail what I’d do if I won the State Lottery. I haven’t done it because I haven’t won. When we’re angry, depressed or anxious, we sometimes deal with it by inventing a fantasy life. I know I think very bad thoughts when someone cuts in too close on the freeway, but I don’t turn them into reality. I do believe Reuben fell quickly. A situation arose, there was most likely a huge argument, and years of repressed anger burst out. Peregrine said that Ox thought, right to the end, that he could pull Reuben around. In the heat of that argument, Reuben lost control and lashed out, and, in that moment, put his plan into action.”

“You make him sound like a victim,” Merlin commented as she came in for coffee.

“In some ways, he was,” Rachel replied.

“And, in other ways, other more important ways, he wasn’t,” Merlin went on. “I don’t doubt your scientific expertise or the report you’ve prepared. I know your skills, Rachel, and I’m glad you’ve made them available to me. But don’t make the mistake of feeling sympathy for that man, or paint him in a sympathetic light, in soft focus. He may look just like everyone else, same as I do, but he was an Enforcer. The fact that his father died young an’ that his mother was too inexperienced to raise him properly .. it’s excuses, not reasons. Red Meyer knows the rules, inside an’ out. He died doing his job. Reuben could never understand that. He thinks of himself as being a victim but he isn’t. He’s a coward, unable to face up to his responsibilities. An’, like so many cowards in history, he chose to run away instead of facing his fear an’ mastering it.” She shook her head. “I think bad thoughts. We all do. But we do not, ever, think evil thoughts. I have never in my life ever thought ‘what would it be like to kill an innocent?’ He did think it and, once a seed like that is planted, it grows. He could have confessed that to the boss in his prayers, an’ the boss would have saved him. The fact that he didn’t, that he didn’t pray at all, didn’t have faith, says a whole lot about his character. He had evil thoughts in his head, Rachel, an’ they corrupted him an’ dragged him under. He doesn’t deserve sympathy an’ he won’t get any from me.”

*****

Derek was shaking his head when Merlin came back in. “Problem?” she asked.

“Only in that I cannot believe the detail in this document. I had always imagined it to be a rather loose agreement between us. But this .. it almost spells out whose responsibility it is to take out the trash.”

Merlin smiled. “Probably that one is down to us.”

“Not quite,” Derek responded, smiling too in appreciation of the humor.

“No mention of any debt?”

“Not thus far. But it’s interesting – this document refers to a preceding agreement, and it appears that the original agreement was not binding on every Legacy house, unlike this one. It seems to have been optional. I wonder what happened to make it change.”

Merlin sat on the edge of his desk. “Most likely something evil. Something one of the ‘outside’ Legacy houses couldn’t handle on their own.” She laughed faintly. “This whole deal was a knee jerk by the Legacy. They took the first agreement an’ made it a formal contract. You guys like rules. We don’t. We’ve come to live with the restrictions put upon us by the Legacy – or we had till that showdown with William – but it must’ve seemed like we’d been chained.”

Derek raised an eyebrow. “Am I hearing this correctly? You don't like rules?”

Merlin’s gaze slid round to his face. “Hey, don’t start making me look like another Reuben Meyer. I am perfectly happy with the rules we have – ”

“Except for those you don’t agree with.”

She turned, almost laying across his desk. “Derek, this is serious. The rules at the heart an’ soul of my organization are good, strong, there for a reason an’ have stood the test of time. I have never argued those with anyone. I have never disobeyed them or broken them. The rules at the edge .. that’s different. And, yes, I did argue about one of them an’ I got it changed. But those are my rules. Your rules which applied to me as a Legacy Enforcer were different again and they were restrictive. You like having things mapped out an’ written down, even to the extent of who takes out the trash. We prefer guidelines, things we can adapt as we go as a situation develops. You said it the other day – I’m part of your team but not a member of your team. I’m .. something first and a Legacy Enforcer second, yet Legacy rules, because that document is so long an’ so detailed, take up an inordinate amount of time an’ memory. I’m glad we rewrote the contract. Everything is much more equitable now. It’s a partnership rather than .. master an’ slave.”

She smiled at the frown which appeared at those three words. “In the old days, when William was in charge, there’d’ve been no way you an’ I could talk like this. Believe me, master an’ slave is an accurate description of life with him and the ruling house in control. Now Paul’s top dog, we’re true allies, working together because we both want to. Maybe that was how it was right at the start. An agreement rather than a contract which states ‘if the Legacy does this, the Enforcers must do that’.”

He nodded. “It’s only taken three thousand years for us to go full circle.”

“Yeah, well, you know how it is. Some people need time to have the lesson beat into them.” She sat up again. “I have a suggestion. Rather than wade all the way thru that, go to the very end an’ work backwards.”

As he turned the pages, Derek asked mildly, “What were you talking about outside?”

“Whether Reuben is a victim or not.”

“Rachel is suggesting he is and you do not concur with her professional assessment.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s because Rachel’s experience is with .. ordinary people.”

“Right again.” Merlin sighed and hunched her shoulders. “This will sound bad so don’t judge me. I’m just saying it because it’s the truth as it applies to us, to Enforcers. It doesn’t make us bad people. We raise our kids to be tough. We always have. They’re self-sufficient from a very young age, purely for the reason that our parents could be killed. Okay, the babies an’ toddlers, they’d be cared for by another family. But, from eight or nine, we could live alone. Reuben wasn’t orphaned at four. He had his mother. Red told me he visited them a lot. An’, when Reuben hit seventeen, he rebelled big time. Then Red cut him off. Seventeen is way old enough to be self-sufficient, Derek. I was orphaned at twenty one. Yes, I was sad, but I did not go off the rails. I got on with my life an’ my work, and I leaned on no one. I never blamed anyone for me losing my parents. I’m not a victim. Neither is Reuben. He’s an Enforcer who went evil. Don’t give him any sympathy. He had the choice an’ he made it.”

“And he paid for it.”

“He started. He hasn’t finished paying yet.”

“Ah.” Derek bent slightly and read the words again, then checked the translation.

“You’ve found something?” Merlin inquired.

“It doesn’t state anything to do with a debt but the second to last entry concerns the mandate to make sure Legacy members abide by Legacy rules. A name is given – Enforcers. And the last entry deals with .. acting as a shield.” Derek glanced up. “Does it make any sense to you?”

She thought about it. “Not to me, not really, but then I live now an’ I’m used to this contract. Put yourself back in those times. Let’s pretend we’re there. We’ve had a comfortable association in the past. An informal arrangement whereby we work together as an’ when needed.”

“All right,” Derek agreed.

“Then we get together again to .. thrash out this contract.”

“I think I’d be a little upset, certainly wary of having such powerful people acting as my conscience,” Derek commented. “I’ve been used to .. interpreting Legacy rules as I see fit. And I had the choice of working with you if I wanted or not. Now .. you would be overseeing everything I did. My freedom would seem to be curtailed.”

“And I would have gone from .. complete freedom for two thousand years to working alongside someone who could only ever use me. It could never be a reciprocal arrangement. A threat in a way because I could easily kill you if you got in my line of fire. So, to reduce that threat, I agree to work with you on an ad hoc basis. And then .. I’m asked to make sure you obey your rules. I think I’d feel a sense of smugness. Even payback. You put restrictions on me that I never had, and now I get the chance to do the same to you.”

“And then .. I ask you to be my shield against evil. It makes sense to me. A logical progression.”

Merlin shook her head. “To me .. it would seem like .. I’m now in service to the Legacy. I have always ignored bad but now I’d be dragged in just to cover your ass. We’d have to be there whenever you call on us. You can order us to do anything, and, provided it doesn’t break our rules, we have to obey because it’s written down. We’re both bound by chains of obligation which neither had before.”

“Could that be the debt, do you think?” Derek frowned. “If so, it goes both ways.”

“We’d always been independent.” She paused. “At the start, when that was written .. there must have been thousands of us. Hundreds of thousands.”

“The Legacy, by contrast, was small.”

“So this .. obligation to protect you wouldn’t have been a hardship for us beyond the curtailment of individual freedom. But now .. there are thousands of Legacy members and only eighty or so of us, still bound by the same chains of service. We would never have agreed to merge with you, to become the Legacy’s army. But this final entry .. is as good as. We would have seen that as a debt. Nothing much had changed for you because it isn’t unreasonable to expect you to obey your own rules. But for us .. everything changed. We were now .. controlled by the Legacy.”

“Master and slave,” Derek breathed.

“In so many words, yeah.”

“A debt of service.”

“So it seems.”

“And an honorable one. One I am happy to settle on behalf of all Legacy houses.”

“Kind of you. On behalf of all the Enforcers, I accept.”

“But don’t thank me,” Derek warned. “Not yet. First, we must deal with Reuben Meyer.”

“An’ that means we have to know where to find him.”

*****

Andrew had left a light lunch in the dining room. The guy had an uncanny knack of preparing the right food for the mood in the house. Lunch was accordingly something which wouldn’t sit heavily in the stomach and make people drowsy in the early afternoon. Andrew had done what Nick had come to call ‘a thinking lunch’.

As they ate, they took the opportunity to share their findings so far. Rachel gave her report on Reuben Meyer, and she carefully adapted it to make him not sound like a victim. Derek provided an update on his research into the original contract and the nature of the debt.

“The same thing occurred to me,” Nick offered. “And then .. I had to wonder what the hell could be so big that us helping now would settle three thousand years of thank you. And now I know.”

“Nick and I have determined that River Sands in Nevada has been completely obliterated and a house in Bakersfield was gutted by a fire. Of course, there’s no way of knowing if that house once belonged to the Meyer family because the paper trail would lead nowhere,” Alex stated. “However, the circumstances surrounding the fire seem to suggest it’s the right place.”

“There’s been nothing in the city,” Nick added. “Russian Hill and Nob Hill are intact. Paradise Drive hasn’t been hit either. Rachel believes that’s because Reuben has, mostly, good memories of those places .. but that could change.”

“Reuben isn’t stable,” Rachel went on. “He wasn’t for a long time. Most people are influenced first by memory,” she explained. “If they have good experiences in a place, they remember it with affection despite how they currently feel. Reuben isn’t quite like that. He appears to be influenced by his current mood so, if he goes to Paradise Drive and his mood isn’t good, he’ll remember the bad things which happened to him there which, in turn, will affect his mood an’ make it worse.”

Merlin’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe I should go there. Wait an’ see if he shows.”

“You do, you’ll have me as company,” Nick warned.

Silence fell as they all grappled with the problem of where Reuben was now.

“I think it fair to say he’s come back with vengeance on his mind,” Derek commented. “His childhood home, to strike back at his parents. River Sands, to hit at the Legacy for making him live there.”

“Then he’ll want me,” Merlin declared. “He killed Ox. He got punished for that. Peregrine’s long dead. Joe’s dead too. That leaves me as the sole member of my family. An’ that’s fine by me. I want him even more.”

“But where?” Rachel asked, not expecting an answer. “He’ll go round, taking out the targets which can’t fight back. Then he’ll choose his arena.”

Alex frowned and moved slightly. Merlin swiveled to watch her.

“You got an idea you wanna share?”

“My nightmare,” Alex replied. “Only .. it wasn’t a nightmare. It was a warning. I think we can all agree on that. First, it told me Reuben had gotten free.”

“There’s more?” Nick asked.

“Well .. yeah but I don’t know if it’ll help any. Obviously, it has to be connected. After I saw him get loose and climb off the wheel, the scene changed. I saw .. wide open sky, a desolate landscape. Patches of snow on the ground. Very wild and rough. And bones.”

“A graveyard?” Derek suggested.

Alex hesitated then cautiously shook her head. “There were no graves, no markers. Just .. bones.”

“Just .. laying around?” Merlin frowned.

“Not really. Sort of .. sticking out of the ground. And I don’t think they were human.” She shrugged. “I just have this feeling that .. it’s another warning tacked on the end of the first. A warning where we can find him or where he’s planning to go.”

Merlin nodded. “Could be. I think I’ll go talk with my grandfather again. He may be able to shine a light on this, make it make sense.”

“We’ll continue trying to find the answer,” Derek told her. “Peri, don’t be too long. You have to start revising all your past training.”

“I always do my best work under a degree or two of pressure,” she replied, winking, and rose from the table.

Nick watched her go then turned back to his coffee. “She’s under a lot more pressure than that.”

*****

Derek paced slowly across the control room, then back. He was frowning in concentration. The others, not quite admitting to the fact that they seemed to have reached an impassable obstacle, watched and waited for instructions, or even a comment. Derek paced back. He seemed oblivious to his surroundings. Then, abruptly, he halted. Alex jumped slightly.

“We can narrow it down,” he said. “It has to be somewhere in this country.”

Nick let out a burst of half-disbelieving laughter. “An’ that’s narrowing it down? This country is huge.”

“I’m aware of that, Nick,” Derek replied patiently, “but, compared to the entire world, this country is at least manageable with the time we have available and the resources at our disposal.”

“Why do you think it’s the United States?” Rachel asked.

“Because Peregrine told us. Don’t you remember? I have been trying to recall his exact words. Reuben only left the country to go to Asia with my father. He came back from that in August and, by Christmas, he was gone. Peregrine listed the places Reuben lived. Bakersfield, River Sands, and San Francisco.”

“We can rule out Bakersfield and River Sands,” Alex remarked. “And San Francisco is not wide open sky, desolate landscape and bones.”

“So we search our database for visual images which might match your description. We can narrow it down to the United States. Clearly, no cities. It is not prairie. It isn’t a built up area.” Derek looked round. “Nick, Rachel, make a start on that. I want Alex to work with me in an attempt to .. enlarge what she already knows.”

“Okay,” Rachel agreed, taking Alex’s place as she stood.

Alex followed Derek into his office. “What do I have to do?”

“I want to try an experiment. Sit down, get comfortable.” Alex obeyed. “Close your eyes. See the image again in your mind.”

Alex nodded, her eyes closing. “Okay, I’ve got it.”

“Keep it there,” Derek instructed, then put his hand on her shoulder.

A second ticked away from the future into the past, and then he saw it too. A clear, wide sky, dotted with clouds. Patches of snow, not many. A wild, desolate landscape, rough, tumbled, cliffs and hills. And bones. Bones sticking out of the ground. Huge bones. Giant bones. Derek studied it for as long as he could, then reality snapped back.

Alex sagged a little, letting out a quick breath. “Did you see?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“And .. did it tell you anything?”

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But .. if I see it again, I’ll know it.” He angled his head. “Alex, I am right in thinking that there have never been any giants in this country, aren’t I? I mean the kind of giants in fairy stories.”

“You’re right,” she confirmed with a smile. “There have never been any giant people like that in the US. Even Bigfoot isn’t a giant.”

He nodded slowly. “What about giant animals ..?”

*****

Miranda opened the door. “Hello again. He’s in the den. Coffee?”

“Thanks.” Merlin hesitated. “Peregrine hates me calling him Grampa.”

Miranda smiled. “You can call me Grandma if you want. I wish I could’ve been there when you were born. But .. I did see Perry take you over the bridge your second time.”

Merlin smiled too. “You never come to family parties,” she remarked. “I wish you would. I’d’ve liked to have met you before now an’ all this trouble.”

“So there is trouble then. More trouble than usual anyway. Perry’s been lying to me again, saying he has no idea what’s going on. I’ll fetch the coffee thru.”

Merlin hurried into the den and Peregrine looked round sharply. He relaxed when he saw who it was.

“You think he’ll try an’ come here?” Merlin asked, halting.

“I wouldn’t put anything past him. Neither should you. Peri, he was my best friend, I knew him the longest an’ the closest, an’ I never saw it coming. Reuben is the cause of an army going from Heaven into Hell. When was the last time that happened? Reuben’s got brother against brother – Michael an’ Lucifer. No one’s ever done that – not even the Lord God Almighty. No, I would not put it past him to come here looking for me an’ my Dad. But, first, he’ll come looking for you.”

“You think? He doesn’t know about me.”

“He knows where we lived. Where our descendents live.”

“But would he come looking for me? I think he’d want us to work hard, want us to go to him. That’s what I’m getting ready for, Peregrine,” she responded, sitting down in an rather threadbare, understuffed armchair. “I need to know where to find him.”

Miranda knocked on the door and then opened it. She brought in the coffee and set it on the corner of Peregrine’s desk. “I’m not listening at the keyhole,” she winked and left them alone again.

“You told us a lot of valuable information but you couldn’t have told us every detail of his life. There wasn’t enough time. You gave us what you believed were all the most pertinent facts.”

Peregrine nodded. “So?”

“So .. I need to know some of the general stuff. Alex Moreau – she was there when you visited – has had a vision. She thought it was a nightmare but it wasn’t. She saw Reuben on the wheel of fire, and she saw him get free. But then the vision changed and they think it’s a warning of where I can find him. Only thing is, none of us recognize the place. Maybe you do, not because you’ve been there but because you knew Reuben.”

“Okay. Shoot,” he invited.

“Wide open sky. A desolate landscape. Patches of snow. And bones. Bones sticking out of the ground. Alex doesn’t think they’re human. It isn’t a graveyard. There’s no markers.” Merlin leaned forward. “You said he came back in August of fifty seven. By Christmas, he wasn’t even history.”

Peregrine regarded her. “Now that’s appropriate.”

“What is?” she frowned.

“When Reuben went to Asia with Winston Rayne, he spent a month on an archeological dig in the jungle.”

“I know. The photo Nick mentioned is of that time.”

“Well .. all his life, he wanted to do stuff like that. Normal. He wanted regular. A job. Never could grasp the fact that he already had a job. Anyway, that dig was a wonderful experience for him. Before he left, he told me he was feeling old. He was forty two. When he got back, he had a spring in his step an’ he said he felt young again. I went to speak with Winston because Reuben wasn’t himself. He was coming out with all kinds of ideas which I didn’t like the sound of. He wasn’t training, he wasn’t praying. I spoke with my Mom because I was plain worried about him. And .. she said maybe he needed a hobby. So I suggested to him that maybe he should go to college an’ do an archeological degree.”

“An’ did he?”

“He went to Berkeley, yes, but he did a paleontology degree. Dinosaurs. An’, just after Thanksgiving that year, he went on a fieldtrip an’ had a great time.”

“Where?” Merlin asked.

“That’s what’s appropriate,” Peregrine said. “The Badlands.”

*****

Alex’s eyebrows rose. “Giant animals ..? I don’t think so but there have, of course, been giant reptiles.”

“Yes! Dinosaurs. And those were not bones you saw. They were fossils.”

Derek rose quickly and hurried back into the control room. Nick glanced up. “We haven’t found it yet, we’re still working out the search parameters.”

“Try this,” Derek said. “Dinosaur fossils.”

Shrugging, wondering how that could possibly fit with Reuben Meyer, Nick typed in the words, added ‘North America’ and hit enter.

“Well,” Rachel breathed as the results presented themselves, “I’d say that was very apt.”

“The Badlands,” Alex echoed. “Is there a visual image?”

“Let’s see … ” Nick clicked on the link and waited. Alex and Derek both watched the screen.

Then an image appeared. Wide, clear sky. A vast, desolate landscape. There were even tiny patches of snow. And what appeared to be bones.

“That’s it!” Alex exclaimed. “That’s the place I saw!”

“Great. So how does that fit with a renegade Enforcer?” Nick asked.

“I can answer that one,” Merlin said as she came in. “Reuben Meyer was doing a paleontology degree at Berkeley. He went to that place,” she continued, nodding at the screen, “on a fieldtrip. Had a great time. The Badlands, right?”

“Right,” Nick confirmed.

“How did he have the time to study for a degree?” Alex wondered.

“Because he’d just about given up being an Enforcer. Peregrine told me a little more. He wasn’t just doing a degree, he was taking courses in philosophy an’ psychology. The subject that semester in philosophy was temptation.”

“Bad choice,” Nick commented.

“Psychology wasn’t much better,” Rachel remarked and they looked at her in surprise. She blushed slightly. “I mean, not much better for him. Okay, he only had a few weeks but he’ll know some of the essentials of how the mind works. He could try mind games on you an’ be crude doing it.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Merlin nodded.

“Just about given up being an Enforcer ..?” Derek echoed. “Can you do that?”

Merlin’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll have to be careful how I answer that. Enforcer is your name for us. It isn’t ours. Like I said to you earlier, I’m something else first and Legacy Enforcer second. And .. yes, I think it is possible to give up being an Enforcer, in that we would no longer work with the Legacy. But, no, it isn’t possible to give up being what we are. That goes deeper than just in the blood. It’s in the soul. That’s why we’re still .. what we are after death. Reuben wanted a regular life, he liked studying an’ the job intruded. The others were covering the duty for him but, if the call came, he had to be ready. That’s an obligation on all of us. Armageddon, when it hits, means all hands to the pump. We know that an’ that’s yet another reason why we train so hard. But Reuben wanted out completely and he was stuck with it. The day he killed Ox, he asked him to speak with the boss an’ arrange for him to lose the power. Ox said it couldn’t be done. Period. So, faced with a life he found intolerable, Reuben snapped an’ went crazy. Yet, after, he told my grandfather that he’d wanted to do it for a very long time. He had it all planned, he just never had the opportunity to .. be himself. Does that tell you more about the kinda guy he is?” she asked. “It should. It should also be sending signal flares to do as much as you can here an’ let me go the rest of the way on my own.”

“With me as your partner,” Nick pointed out yet again. “You promised, Merli.”

“I know. And I am already regretting it.”

He grinned. “Don’t. There’s no need.”

Merlin regarded him. “Why?”

“Because Michael wouldn’t order me into the field just to die. He knows I can do something.”

She paused. “Okay, you’re in. But the rest of you .. you don’t have to be there. Let me lay it on the line for you. I can cause a lotta damage. Out there, it won’t matter so much. Reuben can cause a lotta damage too. Between us, it could get very nasty. It will get violent. And .. like the first Enforcers found when they ran headlong into the good intentions of the Legacy, you could be a big threat to me if you get in my line of fire. You could make me the second Enforcer to kill an innocent. Sure, by accident, but the punishment’s the same. Reuben won’t care about that. He may target you in an attempt to get at me, to engage fear. So, what I’m saying is, do what you can here on the island. The debt will be repaid. Let Nick an’ me go the distance.”

Merlin looked at them, at Derek, Alex and Rachel. Good people, all of them. They were people she’d come to trust as much as she could.

“Think of what you all stand to lose,” she said quietly. “Rachel, you have a beautiful daughter. Kat needs you. Alex, you have the rest of your life ahead of you, an unfolding mystery. Derek .. think how much you’ve already sacrificed to the Legacy. The fight will still go on. We can’t afford to lose good warriors like everyone here.”

They were silent for a long, stretched sliver of time as they each thought about their lives, their memories of the past, their hopes and dreams for the future. And their present obligations.

They sighed, almost as one person.

“I can’t speak for the others,” Alex said, just as quietly, “but I’m a member of the Legacy. I signed on for life, no matter how long or how short that life turned out to be. I have to be there.”

Rachel nodded. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Derek shrugged. “Like the first Legacy members when they ran headlong into the people they would come to know as Enforcers, we’ll learn to .. cooperate and stay well back, but we will be there.”

Merlin shook her head. “You are all crazy.”

“Good thing we have Rachel then,” Derek remarked. “Alex – ”

“I know.” Alex was already moving. “Get the coordinates for that landscape. We’ll be flying out tomorrow.”

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